Lost and Found

What did I mean?First, that the beliefin divinity has almostdisappeared.

By dignityI meant mutualself-respect, the sensethat we have some rightto be here and thatthere is value in it.(Values are wherethe gods wentwhen they died.)

My dog Susie doesn’t seemto have any values, but she doeshave Pat and me, godsshe gets to play with and bark at.

About this poem:"In the pile of miscellaneous papers always on my desk I found a scrap that contained the words in this poem's epigraph, and I vaguely remembered having scribbled them down. That triggered the poem's beginning: 'I said that.' I liked the unusual idea of quoting oneself in an epigraph. By the way, the corny play on god/dog was unintentional."